Vantage point

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Strategy Time-out: ODI-izing T20?

The reason I got bored of one day internationals was how they meandered in the 20-40 over duration. Nothing of note happened, and even if I was watching the match, I would mentally switch off.

The strategy time-out concept has done something similar to T20. There is always some sort of twist after the 10th over and the 7.5 minute long time-out. So unless the openers are going hammer and tongs at the opposition (which happens in maybe 10 percent of the innings), the first ten overs of T20 have been rendered rather insipid. Batsmen and bowlers both play with an eye on the long time-out, so the 6-10th over period in particular is very uneventful.

If they don't get rid of this disastrous "innovation" soon, Twenty20 cricket will have to make way for Ten10 cricket.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Some Like It Hoth

Yes, the title of this post is the name of the latest episode of LOST. And that is what this post is about.

LOST is a show about a lot of things - mysteries, suspense, intrigue, mythology, science fiction, pop culture references, and ironies. But above it all, it is a show about the depth of characters, their development and their interplay. Take away all the exotic elements of the show and you are still left with compelling and absorbing story-telling centered around characters that makes the show the best ever in the drama genre. And last week's episode - Some Like It Hoth, was an excellent illustration of that.

Most (if not all) regular characters in LOST have Daddy issues. Dads who abandoned them, disappointed them, betrayed them, overwhelmed them or then just confused them. Yet, the writers manage to pull off a poignant and touching episode with an entirely new and different Daddy-issue-story, this time centered around the Miles Straum character. Brilliant. Just brilliant!

This is the juice that keeps people like me waiting in anticipation every Wednesday for a new LOST episode. This is the magic from the writers that ensures I will have major withdrawal symptoms in the Summer of 2010 after the series comes to an end.

Monday, April 20, 2009

About Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy

In a politically surcharged climate that makes capital out of the Marathi manoos's seeming marginalisation and oppression in Mumbai, Dinkar's is a timely and remarkably sane voice.[..]By the time it ends, this film, running to full houses in theatres across Maharashtra, has made several significant points. Among them: migrants in Mumbai are not necessarily 'outsiders', they are Maharashtrians; Marathi-speaking citizens of Maharashtra have no reason to feel inferior; they allow politicians to claim Shivaji's legacy, they should use it to assert their own identity in a positive way. At one point, angered by Dinkar's litany of complaints against 'outsiders'—Gujaratis, Udupis (south Indians), Sikhs, UP-walas—Shivaji even admonishes his newest disciple with the words: "Do not credit outsiders for your own failures".[...]That the audience has underwritten its success means the rational approach has immense support. Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena 'workers', better wake up! Says Manjrekar (incidentally, a friend of Thackeray's, though clearly not a political sympathiser): "If this film changes perceptions of even two people in a positive direction, my effort is worth it.... If any political party takes it up, I will only be too happy".

Even though the Shiv Sena hasn't declared its 'star campaigner' for the Lok Sabha polls, a Marathi film Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy (I am Shivajiraje Bhosale speaking) has taken up that role.[...]Though the film takes forward MNS chief Raj Thackeray's point that local people are being ignored in the state, and its dialogues remind the audience of the fiery speeches of Sena chief Bal Thackeray.[...]"After watching the film one can easily tell that the dialogues have been heard before," said Ashish Deshmukh, an advertising professional. "Needless to say, it is Balasaheb's theory."[...]The Shiv Sena, however, did not appear too keen to cash on the sentiments of their supporters. "The film conveys the right message but it does not mean that it has become our star campaigner," said a party leader.

Huh??? Is this a Marathi Rashomon? Exactly which of the two people quoted above has done a ध चा मा I ask!